Milwaukee Muslim plans kosher-halal meat plant

August 1st, 2013

According to news reports in both the June 9 Racine Journal Times and the July 9 New York Jewish Week, a Milwaukee Muslim is seeking to create a slaughterhouse-meat processing plant in Wisconsin that will follow both Jewish and Muslim regulations.

Eyad Suleiman, a Jerusalem native, told the Journal Times he would like to supply both Jewish kosher and Muslim halal meats to Milwaukee-area stores.

The article further states that Suleiman would like to establish this facility at a four-acre property in the town of Raymond in Racine County. “The Racine County Economic Development, Land Use and Planning Committee recently recommended approving the requested rezoning from agricultural to industrial; the request now awaits action by the towns of Raymond and Caledonia,” the article states.

The Jewish Week article quoted Rabbi Moshe Elefant, the chief operating officer of the Orthodox Union kashrut department, as saying that for meat from Suleiman’s plant to be considered kosher, the animals would have to be killed by a shochet, a trained and certified kosher butcher.

Elefant added that Jews can and do operate such businesses that are certified both halal and kosher.